Tag Archives: Healthy

Flipping heck it’s been a while since I posted anything, let alone an edition of the Family Friendly Outings…I promise we have been taking the little Madam out!

Adelyn recently learned how to say “sushi” so we figured we’d take her out to have her first taste and treat ourselves at the same time. Combined with a trot through Greenwich Park and a good old play in the playground – it was a lovely (albeit grey/windy) Sunday afternoon out.

Ambience:Big square (some communal) style tables with comfy, cushioned and wide-backed supportive chairs for the grown-ups in a corner area at the front of the restaurant – window-side views to keep little ones occupied and shouting “BUS!” every so often. People with young families were seated in this section, and it was nice and chilled. No worrying about where to put your pram or your child dropping food on the floor – because other kiddos were doing the same! (Further back in the restaurant is the “grown-up” area nearer to the kitchen, with the harder, more style-inclined chairs).

Facilities:Ladies & Gents loos down the stairs, very nicely appointed. Easily accessible and clean/spacious changing facilities located on the main restaurant floor. Standard wooden high-chair supplied. Children’s activities included in the menu and a tub of crayon-pens to keep little fingers occupied before the sticks n’ sushi-eating begins.

Table was a little suspiciously sticky but nothing a good anti-bac wipe-down couldn’t handle – bonus of being a parent, you’ll never be caught without tissues/wet-wipes of some description.

Food:Bit of something for everyone here really, a nice variety of meat on sticks and a great variety of both traditional (salmon and avocado) and non-traditional (salmon and cream cheese?!) sushi on offer. Impressed by the Children’s menu at about £7.50. We went for the Chicken meatball skewer and salmon maki rolls (also came with choice of small drink and a little chocolate fish).

Less impressed by the Hotate Kataifi (scallops served in a little crispy kataifi bowl), which at £10.80, we were expecting significantly bigger potions of scallop instead of what seemed like one scallop cut up into 6 pieces. Didn’t bother photographing it but in hindsight, wish I had to share the dismay!

Enjoyed the Table for 2 sushi platter, which consisted of Nigiri: Salmon, tuna, shrimp, salmon New York (i.e. with a bit of minced garlic on top) inari and sea bass, Maki: Pink Alaska, spicy tuna and gypsy roll.

Overall:Nice for a family treat and the restaurant was suitably child-friendly, though truth be told, Adelyn was way more interested in popping the edamame beans than actually eating anything. Oh well, we’ll just have to try her on more sushi some other time 🙂

The concept of giving our little one her first taste of curry raised a bunch of questions; mostly around should you give curry to a baby and what happens to their poop.

As I tentatively tried out this recipe on Adelyn, I found that she seemed to really enjoy the creamy and new flavour (I guess it’s like chicken korma), and we didn’t notice any discernible difference in her poop haha…I opted for a mild curry powder from the supermarket as a gentle introduction to the flavour.

Adelyn will have to get used to a bit of spice anyway so that she can fully appreciate the delicious Malaysian cuisine she’ll be growing up with – and we don’t plan on raising a spice-adverse bubba.

And guess what? Babies love flavour! Don’t forget that a lot of the time it’s a whole new experience for them, every time you offer a taste of something new.

Knowing that this recipe is packed with Vitamin A & C (sweet potatoes) fibre and folate (chickpeas) and protein (chicken) too means you can be reassured that it’s also good for the little ones too.

This recipe should make enough for 4 generous portions.

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs, diced

1 medium-sized sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

1-2 shallots, diced

1-2cm nubbin of ginger, peeled and finely grated

1tsp mild curry powder

200ml coconut milk (TIP: use a big can and save the other half to add to porridge!)

200ml water

1x 210g can of chick peas, drained and rinsed

Generous handful of spinach, washed and finely chopped.

Lightly fry the chicken and shallots in a saucepan, then add the sweet potato. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes, then add the trio of flavour – garlic, ginger and curry powder to the pan and stir well to coat evenly.

Add the coconut milk and the water and bring up to the boil. Then pop in the chick peas, reduce heat slightly and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken has cooked fully and the potato is tender.

Add the spinach towards the end of your cooking time.

Blitz to the consistency your baby likes (above was half blended and half mashed). Goes great with some steamed cauliflower or pitta bread as finger food!

These crumby little bites are perfectly sized snack for little ones, full of nutrition and home-baked so you know there are no weird preservatives in there.

They’ve gone down a treat whenever I’ve offered them at play dates. Think of them as a healthy version of a flapjack, only no way near as sweet. Admittedly these are maybe not sweet enough for the adult palate but watch your kid get crumbs EVERYWHERE as they get their nibble on with these.

I’ve been using a porridge oat mix that Tescos have recently brought out which combines oatmeal, oat bran and wheat bran, but using oatmeal will also do nicely. Oat bran on its own lends an especially crumby and almost malty taste – try and see what suits your family.

Apricots are a great source of Vitamin A (for healthy cell growth and immune system), fibre (keeping things *ahem* moving) and potassium (maintains blood pressure). Their natural sweetness combined with that of the apple mean you can bake without having to add sugar.

I make a bigger batch of Apricot Purée than necessary as a teaspoon goes really nicely in porridge for the little ones. I like to think of it as jam that hasn’t been made out of refined sugar so is therefore safe.

Ingredients:

150g oatmeal, oatbran and wheat bran mix

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp coconut oil, warmed to liquid form for ease of mixing

3 tbsp water

1 apple, peeled and grated

For the apricot purée

100g dried apricots*

200ml boiling water

Start by making the apricot purée – pop the apricots into a small saucepan, add the boiled water and bring back to the boil. Lower to a simmer for about 7 mins and then take off the heat. Leave to cool a little before pureeing in a blender (you can make the oaty mix whilst it cools down)

Preheat your oven to 200C and lightly oil a brownie tin or something of a similar size.

Combine the oaty mix with the bicarbonate of soda and give it a little stir. Add the coconut oil and the grated apple and stir.

Purée the apricots (if you haven’t already) and add approx 120g of the purée to the mix (pot up the rest of it and keep it in the fridge). Add the water a tablespoon at a time till you have a nicely formed mixture that holds together. Just leave it to rest for a minute or two.

Pop the mixture into the prepared brownie tin and gently coax outwards to cover the tin. You’ll have a thin layer that should nicely spread out.

Bake for 20-25 mins, until golden on top and coming away from the edge of the pan.

Leave to cool before cutting into little squares – my brownie tin is square so I go for 5×5.

Keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

* For my own peace of mind I use organic and naturally dried apricots; these are darker in colour as a result of not being treated with sulphur dioxide.

Christmas is coming, the Lee Family are getting fat. Sometimes, you just want to know that you have something virtuous but stonkingly yummy waiting for you, and I think this is one of those warming dishes that can be as naughty or nice as you like.

My instinct is to carb load and then add cheese on top (see later) so I wanted to try out cooking up something that would, at it’s heart, be healthy, one-pot and easily modified to suit the needs of the family, and act as a great base for Christmas dinner leftovers.

This dish is a Butternut Squash Chilli recipe, with a decent portion taken out of the main pot before you add the spices for the grown-ups and then cooked separately to include a cooked chicken thigh so that the little one gets a good dose of all important protein.

Serves 2-3 famished grown ups, and 2-3 portions for a hungry baby

Base Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

Half of a decent-sized Butternut Squash, deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes (freeze the other half)

1 Red and 1 Yellow Pepper, deseeded and diced

1 courgette (or more if it’s teeny), diced

1 Onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2x Tinned Tomatoes

1/2 a can of sweetcorn

400g red kidney beans

2 handfuls of Spinach, chopped roughly

250ml low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock

Additions for Baby:

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 chicken thigh, boneless and skinless, sliced in half so that you have two thinner fillets

Finishing Touches for Grown-Ups:

Pinch of dried chilli (or more, to taste)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp of cocoa powder

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Fry the onions, peppers and garlic till softened for a few minutes.

Add the courgette and sweetcorn, and cook till the courgette softens for another few minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, beans and the stock then mix well. Allow to boil and then lower to a simmer for 15- 20 minutes. Add the spinach and simmer for another few minutes till wilted.

At this point you then take out about 4-5 ladle scoops of the mix to pop into a small saucepan – this will become your Baby mix.

To the main pot – this is when you add the flavour and spice to make it palatable for grown-ups! Add the chilli, cumin, cayenne and cocoa powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper and voila – finished. By all means, if you have leftovers from your Christmas meal, they’d make a tasty addition to the chilli.

I served this with a sprinkling of Tabasco, garlic bread, avocado and cheese on top.

Baby Mix: (as seen in the photo at the top)

Pop the small saucepan containing the Baby mix back onto a low-to-medium heat and add the 1/4 tsp cumin. It might seem a little strange to put a relatively strong tasting spice into baby food but babies apparently enjoy strong flavours – I can attest that Adelyn usually noms this down with gusto.

Add the chicken too and allow to cook for another 10 minutes. I like to just place this on top of the mix, slightly submerged. Once it’s cooked, I can then easily scoop the chicken out and chop it up finely (if your baby is on Stage 3 weaning/can deal with texture/lumps). If your baby prefers a smoother texture, blitz the lot up and serve up a portion.

A few weeks into Adelyn’s weaning, I got bored of making Baby Rice + fruit puree, Baby Porridge + fruit puree, or sometimes just – wait for it – fruit puree.

Breakfast has become far less of a chore now that she’s happily into textures and can pretty much eat what we’re eating and vice versa. This happens to be a recipe that is actually intended for babies but also makes for a delicious and virtuous addition to one’s porridge (I’ll share my Power Porridge recipe another time).

Here you have the tangy sweetness of the apple, the soft nuttiness of the quinoa, and don’t you just love the vividly purple colour that the blueberries lend it? Babies are almost always captivated by strong colours, so if your little one is anything like mine and needs to something to keep their attention to sit still and eat – you could be on to a winner with this one.

You can rest assured that Quinoa is good for baby (and you!) as it’s low-allergenic, high in protein (so all very vegan friendly too), and is a great source of fibre and those good carbohydrates that your little one needs to fuel their growth and relentless energy.

The addition of chia seeds also helps to up the protein and fibre content, as well as good ol’ Omega-3s – SO important for healthy brain development amongst other things.

Looks pretty, tastes good, and the whole family can enjoy – what are you waiting for?!

Portions: this should yield about 4 baby portions

Ingredients:

50g white quinoa, rinsed and drained (just as a precaution to rinse off any bitterness)

250ml water

Generous handful of blueberries, washed

2-3 eating apples (I favour Royal Gala), peeled and diced

1 tbsp chia seeds

Pop the rinsed quinoa into a small saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer uncovered over a low-to-medium heat for 10 minutes. By this time it should be well on it’s way to absorbing the liquid.

Add the apples, give it a good stir and cook away for another 5 minutes.

Add the blueberries and the chia seeds, mix well and cook for a final 5 minutes. I add the berries and chia seeds at the end as I don’t want to cook the goodness out of them!

By this time, the liquid should be absorbed and the berries will have begun to release their colour. If you’re serving this for a weaning baby, a good blitz to puree it all together will do nicely. If your baby is old enough to handle lumps, a little mushing with a fork or a masher will give you the consistency as in the photo above.

Storage Note: this freezes really well, just allow to defrost before reheating.

Tips:also goes nicely with a dollop of Greek yogurt. It’s also lovely to eat slightly chilled, say in the summertime or if your baby is that hungry and can’t wait for it to be heated up (this has totally happened several times). I’ve also been known to substitute the apples for pears.

If you’re looking for a delicious way to introduce your baby to fish, look no further than this creamy and comforting dish!

Fish is a great source of protein and Omega-3s (essential for brain development amongst other things). Buy the best salmon you can afford – be conscious that too much fish could be a bad thing due to things like mercury levels etc.

Giving your little one fish twice a week is the perfect amount to reap the benefits.

Inspired by the Truuuly Scrumptious Book of Organic Purees

Ingredients:

For the sauce

1 fillet of salmon (approx. 155g)

360ml whole milk

30g unsalted butter

30g plain flour

4 broccoli florets

2 tbsp of tinned sweetcorn (pref the low salt ones)

For the mash

55g mature cheddar cheese, grated

300g potatoes, peeled and diced

20g butter

40ml whole milk (or enough to make your mash smooth)

Pop the fillet into a pan and cover with the milk, bringing it to a boil. (I took the skin off of the fillet first but you can also do this after it’s cooked). Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 10-15mins till it’s cooked through and flakes easily.

Use a slotted spoon or what-have-you to take the cooked salmon out of the pan and reserve the milk – you’ll need it for the cheesey sauce!

Once the salmon has cooled to the touch, make it baby-friendly and remove the skin and flake into small pieces, remove any bones.

Make the mash – add your potatoes to a pan and heat up to boiling. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15-20mins till they’re soft and mashable. Add the broccoli for the final 10-15mins. Once cooked, drain the water and scoop out the broccoli so that you can mash the potatoes with the butter and milk.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking though, you can get on with the important cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a pan (I used a non-stick saucepan) on a low heat. Gradually add the flour to combine – it’ll start to bubble – and just leave to cook on this low heat for a couple of minutes.

Remove from the heat and gradually add the reserved milk – stir constantly please as you’ll want this smooth.

Return the pan to the heat and slowly bring it back up to boiling – continue stirring throughout as the sauce will quickly thicken. Once it’s the consistency of thick custard, take off the heat again and stir in the grated cheese.

Chop up the broccoli and sweetcorn into little bits, then add to the cheese sauce along with the salmon.

You can either add the mash and stir in, or blend the whole lot together (the above photo was stirred in).